A/N: Hey everyone. Been a while. I'm at the point in the story where I can't refer to other crossover stories to be guidelines for what to do with the plot direction. As of this chapter, I'm officially making plot developments myself, which isn't easy when holding a full-time job. I have a general gist of where I want the plot to go, but not really the smaller interactions that get there.

But today, on Christmas Day, I present this chapter as a gift, as well as a reminder that I'm still planning on continuing this crossover.

Enjoy!

Arthur was reading at his desk, trying to put the events of the sortie behind him, when he heard a knock at his door. He looked up at the room's wall clock, noting that it was half-past Nine O Clock.

"Yeah?" he called out.

No answer, so he turned his attention back to the book, only for the knock to sound again. Now getting annoyed, Arthur moved to the door to tell off whoever was bothering him, cracking it open, only to be met by a pair of ample, unbound breasts in a red silk robe. Arthur looked up to find himself face-to-face with Zola.

"Hey there," she said. "I heard you were going to stay a while, so I came to see how you were settling in."

"I'm doing fine…mostly," Arthur answered.

"I'm a bit miffed that you didn't pay me a visit last night," Zola said.

"I had more pressing priorities – like planning out my repairs," Arthur said. "Look, Zola. I'm really not keen on visitors after what I saw earlier tonight. Second Troop lost one of its rookies."

"I heard," she said.

"Yeah. I've been trying to get my mind off of it," Arthur said.

"I think I can help with that," Zola offered, and Arthur immediately connected the dots. He wasn't exactly a stranger to sex. As a mercenary by career, Arthur had more than his share of one-night stands – some motivated by attraction, others by a need for solace.

"I mean. It's an escape, but not a solution," Arthur sighed. "Besides, I don't have any protection with me so, if something happens…"

"Protection?" Zola asked, nudging herself into his room.

"You know: birth control."

"Is that what you're worried about?" Zola asked, then she gave him a sad smile. Turning her back to Arthur, Zola undid her robe all the way down to her waist. Her back was decorated with several faded scars; when she turned around, there was a larger one – cleanly, though not perfectly healed – that ran diagonally to her navel.

"A souvenir from when I was a rookie," Zola explained. "Piece of shrapnel lodged itself right into my womb. I couldn't get pregnant of I wanted to."

Arthur stared at the scar, swallowing the lump in his throat.

"Sorry," he said after a long moment of silence.

"It doesn't matter anymore," Zola said with a shrug. "We will all die someday. It's just better to savor moments like this while we can."

Was that really why she was here? Looking back, when the 00-ARETHA razed Anatolia to the ground, Arthur had been without any real purpose. The very few survivors, like him, had to run with whoever they found if it meant having enough to eat in order to see the next sunrise. Eventually, he remembered the day that the Raven left – the Raven that had become the colony's hero…Arthur's hero.

It was that day that he had resolved to become a LYNX, just like the Raven did before him. All that in mind, the longer Arthur looked at Zola, the more she reminded him of the scared young man that he used to be – desperate, looking for purpose. He supposed he was back to that point in his life now that he had finished the Closed Plan.

"You should know that – in my line of work – committing to a relationship is a recipe for heartbreak," Arthur said. "No attachment."

"I can live with that," Zola said. "Though, here on Arzenal, you scratch our backs, and we'll scratch yours."

"I suppose that has its advantages," Arthur said, before unbuttoning his shirt and dropping it on the floor. He sat on his bed and gestured to the spot next to him for Zola to join. Smiling hungrily, Zola fully doffed her robe and perched up next to him.

"I've got no idea how long I'll be here," Arthur remarked. Zola replied by leaning in and pushing him down against the mattress, kissing him.

"No one ever does," she muttered.

When he woke up later, Zola was gone – and she at least had the courtesy to shut his room's door behind her. Arthur climbed out of bed and went to his desk, on which Zola left a paper airplane. He caught a glimpse of the writing inside of it and unfolded the paper. The only thing written down was: "We should talk some time".

She was probably curious about his implants – she brushed them over more than once while she was having her way with him. For someone who presumably wasn't at all experienced with talking to – much less lovemaking with – men, she picked up on things very quickly. She was aggressive about it, too. The experience was…mind-blowing, to say the least.

If this was going to be everyone's reaction to seeing his implants, Arthur's stay on this island was bound to become a great, big headache. Even more so if bed with Zola was going to become routine. He may as well get the day started; White Glint still needed work.

After cleaning up, and on his way to the elevator that would take him down to the old docking bay, he came across the First Troop. It seemed they had at least two new faces, both of them seemed fresh into their teens. Arthur swallowed his disgust over the concept of child soldiers and approached. He caught the eye of the younger of the two girls, and she looked at him with sparkles in her eyes – it was obvious that she was seeing the first time meeting a man as a momentous occasion.

"You…you…you're the man that came in a few days ago?" she squeaked.

"I am," Arthur answered, looking between the two. "I haven't seen the two of you before today. New to the team?"

"Yes," the slightly older of the two said. "I'm Miranda, and my friend here is Coco."

"Arthur. Nice to meet you," he introduced.

Past them, the main girls of the squadron were looking over the landing pad. Zola was looking through a set of binoculars while…Well, she was groping Hilda.

"Good morning," Arthur said.

Zola took her eyes out of her binoculars and looked at him, smirking.

"Oh, glad you're awake! You slept most of the morning away," she said.

"Not that I got much sleep, thanks to you…"

"Oh, don't be like that…"

"Anyway, you have two new additions to the squadron?" Arthur asked.

"Three," Zola corrected. "Rumors were around the base all morning about the princess down there."

"Princess?" Arthur inquired.

Zola extended the binoculars to Arthur, saying, "Have a look."

Taking the binoculars, Arthur looked through them in the direction Zola had previously looked. It was a classroom, filled with young girls. Presumably, they were going through orientation, but they weren't the ones who caught Arthur's eye. All the way at the back was a late teenage beauty with long blonde hair. All he could really see was the profile of her features, but it was more than enough to place the name.

Angelise Ikaruga Misurugi…

No fucking way…

An unbidden grin came to Arthur's face as he took in the irony. Less than a week ago, the princess was giving a big talk about how the Norma needed to be quarantined away from Mana society. Now, it looked like the game had changed, and she turned out to be one of them. Arthur was very eager to grind this fact into her face.

"Like what you see?" Zola asked. "Quite a pretty face…"

"I'll agree. It's quite pretty," he remarked, handing the binoculars back. "Pretty punch-able, if you ask me."

"Whoa," Hilda exclaimed. "What's with you?"

"Miss Popular and I have a history between us…and not in a good way," Arthur said. "How the mighty have fallen…"

"Oh? And what are you thinking?" Zola asked.

"I'm thinking you should thrash her…" Arthur said. "Now, if you don't mind, I have repairs to do."

Arthur walked off, leaving the present members of the First Troop bewildered.

"I guess we've learned something now," Rosalie quipped. "The man holds grudges."

Hilda had to agree. But how could he know the new arrival if…

…if they never met before?

Hilda almost wanted to smack herself over her brief lapse of logic; of course they had met before. His very words said it; whatever this princess had done, it was more than enough to piss Arthur off. And it left Hilda with an idea.

Hilda already had her share of experience with men. Even after all these years at Arzenal, she could still feel the arms of the policemen wrapping around her and shoving her roughly in their patrol car. She could still see her Mama running after them as she disappeared in the distance.

That machine of his, she thought. That…NEXT. He must have come all the way from the mainland. It must be able to fly back. From his claims a few days ago, however, it had some type of overload sequence that would blanket the island in radiation if anyone tried to access it without the proper codes.

I'll keep an eye on him,she decided. Learn as much as I can. And if I have to…well, it's nothing I haven't done before.

In an isolated place in the Royal Palace of the Empire of Misurugi, Riza listened in on a conversation as picked up by the listening device she left on the stranger's machine, which she now had a name to: White Glint. Judging by everything she heard, he had made contact with the Norma over at Arzenal…the very same place where the former princess – Angelise – had been shipped off to.

Sophia Ikaruga Misurugi was dead, Julio Asuka Misurugi was on the throne, and the former Emperor Jurai was wanted for high treason for knowingly concealing Angelise's status as a Norma from the public. His current whereabouts were unknown.

"…okay, that removes the creep in the left arm actuators," the pilot of White Glint could be heard through the listening device. "It should be battle-ready tomorrow…"

"I can tell something's on your mind, kid," a female voice spoke, with seniority.

"Actually, a few things are," the pilot said. "Teach, I want us to keep an ear to the ground and look for other possible clients. Jill may be willing to put up with us for now, but I don't peg her as trustworthy in any capacity."

"I agree. It's only a question of time before we have to make ourselves scarce."

"There's still a question on my mind: why are these 'DRAGONs', as the base refers to them, even here?" the pilot questioned.

Riza bristled slightly at the name that the Children of Aura were called by the False Humans, but nonetheless kept her cool and listened on.

"No one seems to know. The highest levels of the command chain might, but as far as most of the Norma are concerned, they are simply targets that they were conscripted to eliminate."

Interesting…intelligence so far had Riza thinking that the Norma were willing accomplices in this shadow war between her people and the False Earth. But this claim that they were, by and large, conscripts with no idea as to why the False Humans have them fighting turned that prior intelligence on its head.

"What's your take on the situation, Teach?"

"I'm not sure. I've been looking through text after text, and Arzenal appears to be the only line of defense between the DRAGONs and the mainland."

"But they come into this dimension through space-time rifts. That leaves a question: who is opening them, and why only at Arzenal? That makes no sense tactically or strategically."

"Arthur, where are you going with this?"

"Remember the roar that we heard before we were tugged over to this world? It sounded like one of the DRAGONs, but…bigger. It would be common sense to say that their combat tactics boil down to pack instinct, but that's not the impression I'm getting," Arthur said.

"You think there's a guiding intelligence behind them?"

"I'm not willing to rule it out. And that's why we need to find clients outside of Arzenal; I'm certain that Jill will do everything she can to keep us in the dark and give us nothing to go on. Rule one of mercenary work is to never take what your client says at face value."

A mercenary from another dimension. Someone with no prior knowledge of the Children of Aura, and no prior grudge with them, either. She needed to report this to Lady Salamandinay; if there was a way to get Arthur involved, she would be able to find it.

"Speaking of Jill, she wanted me to tell you that she wanted to see you in your office at your earliest convenience. I think she may have a job for you to do."

"Alright, Jill. What's this about?" Arthur asked after cleaning up from working on his NEXT.

"I heard about your little…escapade with Zola," Jill said, with a silent chuckle. "It doesn't much matter to me what she does, as long as she can deliver when the missions start."

"That's not all, is it?"

"No," Jill said, her expression changing into one of serious concern. "Word around the base is that you seem to have it in for our new arrival. I'll give you a courteous warning before moving on to business: I don't care much one way or the other how you feel about her, but I don't want to hear about a killing on this base. I have enough of a handful with the Inspector General about you, already – finding a body on the base will make you the main suspect, and it will send the mainland breathing down my neck."

"I see…any objections to me tossing one punch to the gut?"

"None. But why?"

"I told you about what happened in the Misurugi Empire," Arthur explained.

"You helped a Norma and her mother escape," Jill recalled. "This involves our new arrival…how, exactly?"

"Jill, don't play dumb; you already figured out I was lying about being from a nondescript, isolated colony away from Mana society. I know you to be an intelligent woman, and I figure you have already pieced it together," Arthur scoffed. "Me telling you would simply be a formality."

"Tch. I suppose it would…" Jill trailed. "Still…"

"I get the message: zero body count," Arthur confirmed. "Now…on to this business you're going on about?"

"Yes. As you've probably been told, Singularities open every three to four days," Jill started. "The next one is expected to open the day after tomorrow. The Third Troop will be the one to deploy for that one – I want you to accompany them."

"Jill, with all due respect, I'm a solo act," Arthur said. "I can count on my fingers the number of times I've deployed as part of a team – I'm just not a team player".

It was left unsaid that Arthur considered the odds of anyone sortieing with him to be minimal. After Anatolia's Raven went down at Line Ark, Arthur had been hesitant to take on any partners. The idea of someone dying on his watch unnerved him, but he had the feeling that Jill was not about to take "no" for an answer.

He was only partly right.

"I hope you learn quickly," Jill said, before leaning forward. "You don't have to take that deployment, but I'll ask that you consider the following: taking the job will earn you some goodwill with the mainland, making them a bit more reluctant to send anyone to arrest you. Plus, I'm willing to pay you twenty-five thousand on completion if you deploy, in addition to whatever bounty targets you bag."

"You'd pay me just to deploy, even if I don't actively contribute?"

"Yes…though I would prefer that you pull your weight…" Jill said. "I'd like to see what you can do at full strength – and it might even persuade the Inspector General to give a stellar recommendation to keep you around."

Arthur scratched the back of his head. He wasn't really in a good bargaining position to turn down such a reward, or the possibility of buying just a little bit of spare time from the fat cats in Mana society.

"You know your way into a mercenary's heart, I see," he said.

"At Arzenal, if you have enough money, you can buy just about anything," Jill smirked.

"Give it to me in writing, and I'm in," Arthur said.

"Will do..."

Next Day – Mess Hall, Arzenal

A commotion started up in the Mess Hall, provoked by none other than the new arrival, and an altercation started between her and the members of the First Squadron: her new unit, no less.

"Don't you ever get tired of pulling rank?" Arthur asked rhetorically.

The fallen princess stiffened when she heard the voice behind her – she'd only heard it for a single day, but it was too distinctive to forget. She turned, her pink eyes meeting Athur's grey eyes.

"You! Julio talked about you!" she spat. "Jim Milton, wasn't it?"

"Not quite, kid," Arthur said. "I always use an alias when I'm travelling".

"I should have figured after that day that a malcontent like you would end up among the Norma…"

"Big talk for a girl who turned out to be one," Arthur said, stepping closer. "Was that your whole plan? Pass yourself off as human by demonizing Norma so you would avoid coming here?"

"No! This is a mistake!"

"Why lie about it now?"

The fallen princess punched dead in the center of Arthur's chest – gasps were heard from the onlookers in the mess hall. The punch itself was enough of a shock to the audience around the two of them as it stood, but the bigger shock was that Arthur did not even seem fazed by it. Pain shot through the fallen princess's hand – it felt like she had hit a sheet of ceramic cushioned by muscle.

"You finished?" Arthur said, seeming more annoyed than anything else.

He grabbed her by the center of her issued uniform, lifting her off the ground with a single arm. By his standards, she was fairly light, not even breaking a hundred pounds. The fabric of the uniform dug into her skin, and the sounds of a few of the inseams tearing could be heard.

She tossed a second punch at him, this one aimed at his face, only to be shocked that he managed to catch her fist.

This man…he was tough, strong, and fast.

"You'll see…the mainland will realize the mix-up, and I'll be back home," she said.

Arthur looked her dead in the eye. As an experienced mercenary, he had to learn how to read his clients – tone, look, and otherwise. Even the best liar he'd ever met had some sort of tell that gave away their hand. He saw no such tell here – there was nothing but fear in her eyes. Fear, and a look of denial – either she was that skilled in lying or she genuinely thought she was normal. Given her age, Arthur was more inclined to believe the latter.

"Dear Lord – you legitimately believe you're human," he surmised. "But how? You never thought to try for yourself to see if you were born with the ability to use Mana for sixteen years? Was someone always using it on your behalf?"

"W-what?!" she coughed. "D-did Momoka…?"

"I think I see now. You're not lying about being human – you were lied to," he concluded, before dropping her back to the ground.

"You know…I was ready to break your nose," Arthur said. "But seeing that look of denial on your face convinces me that your folks deserve it far more – lying to their own kid like that."

"You…you're wrong. My parents would never have…"

"How can you believe that anymore? What was the nation you were the princess of, again? The Empire of Misurugi?" Arthur asked, not expecting an answer – it was more sorting out his own thoughts than anything else. "Parents at the top of the totem pole – you think they wouldn't have the influence to hide the fact that you're a Norma…even from yourself?"

The fallen princess's eyes looked up at him, with disbelief…no, horror and denial in her eyes. Her head shook rapidly, even as she coughed, recovering from Arthur's grip and the subsequent drop to the floor knocking the wind out of her.

"You're lucky…most of the Norma here probably never had parents in positions of power and prestige that could protect them," Arthur said. "But luck runs out, eventually. We'll see if you're capable of adapting to life here. You adapt or you die – it's that simple."

She stumbled to her feet as Arthur left the mess hall behind, leaving a bewildered silence in his wake.

The following morning…

Arthur spent yet another restless night in his quarters after Second Squadron's sortie two nights ago. He had a personal alarm from his tablet wake him up at five in the morning, sharp. It was a familiar 1980s tune that he listened to religiously as a child.

"Revvin' up your engine. Listen to her howlin' roar.

"Metal under tension, beggin' you to touch and go.

"Highway to the Danger Zone! Ride into the Danger Zone!"

With a groan, he hit the off button on the alarm and sat upright, pinching the bridge of his nose as he rubbed the sand free from his eyes. Wakefulness took time to come to him, but before long he could make the faint lines that told him he was facing his room's window. The sun had only just begun to crack the horizon, so things were dim.

The light switch was close enough to his bed that he reached it with little effort. His eyes stung as the light hit, but they quickly adjusted. Right on his desk was the contract for the mission today, signed and dated, with a full detail on what constituted successful completion and what would render it void.

He had read through it three times, trying to look for any fine print that Jill would hide behind. To Arthur's surprise, the catch was remarkably basic. The only major stipulation was that Jill would retain the right to deploy him at will in the event of an unexpected Singularity for up to three days post-mission – he'd have to pay out a penalty if he refused to do so. Otherwise, he would retain full rights to the payout from bounty targets.

It was there, in writing. If Jill tried anything, Arthur was more than willing to rub the print in her face…

He cleaned up, ate, and got into his flight suit, moving down to the old hangar bay. He gave his NEXT a once-over and determined that it was fully combat-capable…if a little bit off-balance due to the shift in center of mass. Either rifle would easily tear right through a Schooner-Class DRAGON, and the MARVE could probably put a sizable wound into a Brig-Class.

Most of First Squadron paid him a visit, walking in just as he was connecting himself to his NEXT's systems. The pain that came with hooking up with the system was so great that even a grown man could scream, so he wasn't exactly hard to find. The plus was that the pain settled into numbness as his brain started to interact with the inactive NEXT.

Having seen his implants before, Zola and Salia grimaced a bit, but didn't seem to be particularly disturbed by seeing a series of cables literally sticking into Arthur's back. Every other member was a different story, with expressions ranging from simple shock to horror – it was nothing like the plug suits that they wore that connected their visors to their para-mail.

Perhaps it was her nurturing and motherly personality, but Ersha seemed to be most disturbed, rushing to Arthur immediately after hearing the grunts of pain that resulted from his NEXT directly connecting to his spinal column. It didn't take a genius among the girls to figure out that the cables were not connecting to his flight suit – they immediately figured out that they connected to him.

"Arthur, are you alright?" Ersha questioned, her hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah. I'm good," Arthur said. "It'll fade away in a few moments."

"That looked painful," she added.

"It is…but I'm used to it now," Arthur said. "I appreciate the concern, though."

"What the Hell do you think you're doing?" Hilda asked.

"I'm interfacing with my NEXT and checking its systems," Arthur said, matter-of-factly.

"Quiz time! Do you really need to do it like that?" Vivian asked.

"Yes," Arthur said. "NEXT operating systems make use of a piloting system called the Allegorical Manipulation System that feeds data to the pilot and transmits pilot intent at the speed of thought. The NEXT tells me about its status in real time, and my brain tells it what to do without needing to use a manual interface – in layman's terms, the NEXT is like an extension of my body. To make that happen, it needs to be able to interface with my brain directly – hence, the implants."

"Don't you have manual screens in that?" Zola asked, sounding somewhat unnerved.

"Yes, but those are usually only a backup system," Arthur said. "Like it or not, a LYNX requires implants like mine in order to even pilot a NEXT".

"Can anyone pilot something like this with those implants?"

"Anyone that demonstrates basic aptitude with the system, but the degree of compatibility varies by pilot," Arthur answered. "Unfortunately, if you're wondering if I can install the system on a para-mail, I have neither the method to do so, nor the screening equipment to see if anyone on base has the aptitude."

"Alright, I'm powering everything except Primal Armor up," Arthur added.

When inquired about what Primal Armor was, Arthur pointed out the forcefield that surrounded his NEXT during their first meeting after killing the Brig-Class DRAGON. It formed a semi-solid substance when a physical projectile traveling at sufficient velocity passed through the field, effectively cushioning the kinetic energy of whatever hit his NEXT. Naturally, he explained that using it was also why being near his NEXT was a radiation hazard to start with.

He ran a few simulations in the NEXT as he tested for combat readiness. Arthur was thoroughly grateful that the girls kept their questions to a minimum during this time. For testing NEXT-on-NEXT combat, he pulled up simulation data of his favorite punching bag: Wonderful Body. Yes, the woefully inept GA Normal Pilot-turned-LYNX was Arthur's go-to guy for testing out specific things on his NEXT, on the basis that if his NEXT couldn't track something as large as a NEW-SUNSHINE, then Arthur clearly did something wrong.

Later…

Klaxons sounded throughout the base as the monitors in the command center picked up an energy spike out at sea. Anyone with training knew what this meant; a Singularity was opening up.

"Alert! A Singularity has been detected! Third Squadron, deploy immediately!" Pamela announced over the PA system.

The trio of communications operators took places at their respective monitors. On the floor above them, Kasumi took place at her portable terminal and booted up all relevant programs. Finally, from the entrance, Jill walked in, followed by Emma.

"Status!" Jill called.

"Third Squadron on the ready line, awaiting clearance to launch," Hikaru replied. "Salia, Hilda, and Vivian are on standby to scramble as backup!"

"Good…"

Olivier looked over her screen, which had the active roster. Salia, Hilda, and Vivian were all labeled under "Reserve". The deploying riders: Betty, Sarah, Linda, Candice, Irma, Sonia, Laura…

Wait. Arthur!?

"Is there an error in the roster?" Olivier asked. "I'm showing that White Glint's pilot is deploying on this one."

Hikaru and Pamela looked similarly taken off-guard by that fact.

"That's not an error," Jill stated in a matter-of-fact manner. "He's agreed to sortie on this incursion."

"Kid, you ready?" Kasumi said into her headset.

"All systems green – underway in ten seconds," the affirmative came. The crack of the sound barrier being breached could be heard from where the old dock was as the sleek, aerodynamic form of White Glint gliding along the waterline could be seen departing from the base.

"Ma'am! Units Betty, Linda, and Irma launching! The rest are awaiting a clear runway!" Hikaru said.

"Alright, kid," Kasumi said. "This is how Arzenal works: you're paid in proportion to the number and types of targets you eliminate. Third Squadron is on your side, but it's also your competition – show them what you can do."

"Don't worry – I won't thrash their kill counts too badly," Arthur replied with a hint of amusement, drawing the attention of the command center staff. It wasn't like they were completely unaccustomed to what he was capable of, but when he first showed up, he was admittedly not at full strength.

"Tch," Jill scoffed, before informing by radio, "Third Squadron, you know the drill: eliminate all DRAGONs coming through the Singularity. White Glint will be cooperating with you as your backup."

"Wait. Where is he?" Laura questioned.

"Down there! At sea level," Betty replied.

White Glint was about five hundred meters under them and was rapidly overtaking the squadron in terms of reaching the Singularity. Despite the distance, the craft was easy to make out against the color of the sea.

"This is White Glint…looks like we're working together on this one," the male voice of the pilot sounded through the radio. "I'll handle intercepting stragglers – you just do what you do best."

Betty had only met him once and pegged him as a taciturn individual. His radio chatter just now was the most Betty had heard him say.

Arthur kept at water level during the approach to the Singularity – Primal Armor was inactive to avoid contamination of the mail riders he was accompanying. His NEXT's camera functions weren't the best, but he was able to make out roughly twenty contacts coming through – mostly Schooner-Class DRAGONs, plus a single Brig-Class. So far, he seemed to remain unnoticed to the hostile contacts – they ignored him in favor of the Third Squadron.

Deciding not to take it for granted, Arthur continued his lateral vector, but started adding vertical thrust to gain elevation to blindside the Brig-Class from behind. His FCS offered him every short-ranged radar, but he was able to make out smaller contacts laying back with the Brig-Class while the rest went forward – Schooners acting like wingmen, Arthur concluded. And in a coordinated manner, they broke off to intercept him.

"I've got a few on me – switching to rifles," he radioed.

Easing off on the thrust, he immediately gunned the throttle of this side and rear boosters to get his pursuers within his sights. Gradually, hostiles approached within his FCS's lock distance, and he fired as soon as the reticule went red. He fired the MARVE four times, two shots going wide, one nicking the wing of one Schooner while another hit the other dead-on, splitting it right down the center lengthwise.

"Woah! 'Rifles', nothing…those are straight-up autocannons," one of the Third Squadron's members exclaimed.

Ignoring the exclamation, Arthur gunned the quick thrust on his side boosters as the second Schooner closed in on his position, causing it to overshoot. In that split second, he noticed a third Schooner coming towards him from his Ten O'clock. Gut instinct became his guide as he dropped altitude and maneuvered with a chain of quick boosts to line both targets in front of him. A single shot from his 051ANNR was enough to do in the Schooner that missed him earlier – the effect was messy, but not quite as dramatic as the one he dropped with his MARVE.

He aimed his MARVE at Schooner number three and waited until it was within a few dozen meters before firing, hitting it in the dead center of its muzzle. In a vain attempt to drag him down with it, it weakly grabbed at his NEXT's leg, pulling him with it before it expired and lost all strength.

"Arthur, you've got the Brig-Class's attention," Betty called out. "Move it!"

Her radio callout was emphasized by the roaring large maw of the Brig-Class facing.

On Third Squadron's end of the fight, things were going well. Accusations of kill-stealing aside, the mail riders were able to work together fairly well to thin out the DRAGON numbers – only a few small clusters of Schooners were left. Only Linda suffered any form of damage – it was to her left engine, with her power output falling. She reduced output to her right engine, restoring balance.

Arthur dodged the orbs of energy that came his way, the Brig-Class DRAGON's attention firmly on him. As the Schooners were eliminated, the situation allowed Third Squadron's heavy gunners to take shots on the dorsal side of the Brig-Class. Betty loaded a freeze bullet and went full speed for the weakened Brig-Class, the loaded hand impacting with the center of mass, ice expanding and encasing the Brig-Class – it promptly fell downwards to the sea, roaring all the way down until it was fully encased.

"That's one for me. Status?" Betty radioed.

"Green," most of the squadron reported, save Linda.

"Engine damage," Linda reported. "Thrust dropping."

"Singularity is still open," Arthur pointed out. "It can't be over yet."

"I'm making out any…wait," Laura started, before seeing two massive silhouettes coming in from the other side of the Singularity before the portal closed. "Oh, shi…"

"Galleons! Spread out!" Betty ordered.

"Arthur…I'm reading an increase in KP output from your NEXT," Kasumi radioed. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Third Squadron, remain in Destroyer Mode – I'm engaging Primal Armor," Arthur radio. "I'll take full responsibility for any radiation you absorb."

"Damn. I can't increase engine output," Linda said, only to see one of the Galleons rapidly coming into attack range. Its maw opened, the ornate circle that preceded its attack formed, and she thought for certain that she was dead…

…right up until the nine-and-a-half-meter tall form of White Glint came in between the Galleon and her Glaive.

"Hngh!" Arthur grunted. "Go! Move!"

Linda didn't question it and started to fly away as White Glint took the hit. And on Kasumi's terminal, Arthur's EEG lit up like the long-destroyed Times Square, pain receptors firing off.

"Gyah! Holy shit, that hurt," Arthur said.

"Arthur! Status!" Kasumi ordered.

"I'm rattled, but still okay," he replied. "How's my NEXT holding?"

"Combat damage at forty percent!"

"I can't take too many hits like that…"

Most of Third Squadron was absolutely floored – an attack like that would have destroyed a Glaive outright. But White Glint was still standing, with only a few cracks in the armor. If Arthur's machine was that tough, Betty really did not want to end up on the opposite end of his guns.

She saw the artillery piece along White Glint's back unfold and form the one-twenty-millimeter grenade cannon.

"Fall back, out of the blast radius!" Betty said, getting Sarah and Irma to withdraw out of optimal engagement range for Glaives.

"Long range support – you bait 'em and I'll fry 'em," Arthur said.

Candice and Sonia moved to allow them space to move, training the cannons of their Hausers on one Galleon while Betty herself trained her sniper rifle on one that faced Arthur. Arthur himself jinked to and fro in the air, getting in close to the Galleon-Class with a dizzying array of quick boost maneuvers, opening fire with the MARVE in his left arm.

The Galleon was quite tough, taking more than a few shots from the MARVE before any of the rounds started embedding. A sniper shot from Betty in one of the eyes on its right side aggravated it, though, and it began diverting attention to the Third Troop's captain. That's the opportunity Arthur seized on, configuring the eyes to be his target.

He thrust in, fired his OGOTO at the bunch of eyes, and thrusted away as his NEXT recovered from its stagger in one big hit-and run attack before dropping altitude to move on to the other Galleon as his previous target roared in pain. The other Galleon caught sight of Arthur closing in, but it was too cumbersome with its movements to react in time before he released another OGOTO shell. This one failed to hit the eyes directly, but the shrapnel from the impact nonetheless scraped along their surface.

Arthur capitalized on the staggered DRAGON's pain and jetted under to the other side of the head, riddling the eyes with both rifles. Some of those rounds must have hit the brain because the Galleon roared and lost coordination as it tumbled down towards the sea. Arthur planted one more OGOTO shell into the underbelly for good measure.

The other Galleon regained enough sense of self to face Arthur, because it was looking right at him, the occult-looking circle lighting up in front of its muzzle lighting up, preparing a barrage to hit him with. By instinct, Arthur dropped altitude to scatter the attack in lieu of a direct attack and engaged his Over Boost. He was close to sea level when he started taking glancing hits, none of which hurt as badly as the direct hit he took earlier.

Cutting off the Over Boost, Arthur started grabbing sky and aiming the OGOTO at the underside of the Galleon before letting another round fly. The Galleon roared in pain at the resulting explosion, the fireball obscuring Arthur's approach. Arthur eased off on the main booster to regain energy, before using his Over Boost to close in. Thrusting his NEXT's leg out, Arthur delivered a sharp kick right into the Galleon's lower eye, blood drenching his NEXT.

Arthur then leveled the muzzles of his rifles and unloaded on the eyes that remained -the MARVE, in particular, rammed forty-millimeter rounds one after the other into the brain. Inertia began to yank at his NEXT as the Galleon started to fall towards the sea. Gunning the main booster, Arthur pulled his foot free from the eye of the Galleon and ascended as the Galleon fell into the sea.

"Status?" Arthur radioed.

"Sensors are showing a clean sweep now that the Singularity is closed," Kasumi said. "Local contamination is negligible. The mission was a success."

"Whew," Laura sighed. "Thanks for the save. I'd have been dead for sure. I owe you."

"A cold bottle of beer would be nice," Arthur said. "Don't worry about it."

"That was amazing," Betty said. "You took on two Galleon-Class DRAGONS almost singlehandedly. I'm glad you're on our side."

"Don't sell yourselves short," Arthur said. "If you hadn't supported, it could have taken a lot longer and ended up a lot messier…"

"I look forward to talking to you when we get back," Betty radioed.

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